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Japan’s Princess Kiko Gives Birth to Boy

TOKYO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Princess Kiko gave birth on Wednesday to a baby boy -- the first male heir to be born into the ancient imperial family in more than four decades, the Imperial Household Agency said on Wednesday.

The birth of a boy, who will be third in line after his uncle and his father, is likely to dampen debate on letting women inherit the throne -- an idea opposed by conservatives eager to preserve a tradition they say stretches back more than 2,000 years.

An Imperial Household Agency official told reporters Kiko had given birth by a Caesarean operation to the 2,558 gram boy at 8:27 a.m. (2327 GMT).

Kyodo news agency quoted sources as saying both mother and baby were fine.

No imperial boys had been born since Kiko's husband, Prince Akishino, in 1965, raising the possibility of a succession crisis. Crown Prince Naruhito, 46, and Crown Princess Masako, 42 have one child, 4-year-old Princess Aiko.

But the monarchy remains rich with symbolism and ritual and the birth of a possible imperial heir had mesmerised the media.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had planned to revise the law to give women equal rights to ascend the throne, but Kiko's pregnancy had already put the proposal on hold.

Not all Japanese, however, were likely to be equally gleeful about the birth of a boy, which is expected to scuttle prospects for for a reform that would have allowed Aiko to become Japan's first reigning empress since the 18th century.

The birth is the latest chapter in a drama that began when Masako, a Harvard-educated former diplomat, suspended public duties more than two years ago due to a mental illness caused by the stress of rigid royal life, including pressure to bear a son.

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The saga has been followed by Japan's gossipy tabloid magazines, which have written of strife between Naruhito and Akishino over whether public duties take precedence over personal fulfilment and compared Masako, sometimes unfavourably, to the demure Kiko, who seems satisfied with a role as wife and mother.

Experts agree reform of the succession law will be needed eventually, despite the birth of the boy, since ensuring male heirs is difficult without a royal concubine.

The practice of emperors taking concubines ended when Emperor Akihito's late father, Hirohito, refused to take one.

Conservatives, however, would prefer to revive princely houses abolished after World War Two to expand the pool of possible male heirs, rather than let women reign.

"I think it solves the short-term problem but they still have got a major issue on their hands," said Kenneth Ruoff, a professor at Portland State University and author of "The People's Emperor".

"They have no reserve in terms of if something should happen to the child and down the road, they will have a crown prince and emperor with no other princes around."

Japan has had eight reigning empresses, the last in the 18th century, but conservatives stress they were stop-gap rulers.

Share prices of baby goods makers climbed on Monday on hopes the royal birth could help lift the nation's slumping birth rate from its record low, but sociologists rejected notion that women would start having more babies just because of the royal birth.